The Police in Borno State have arrested four persons in connection to an attempt to burn the Mafa IDP camp in the Mafa Local Government Area, Borno.
Those arrested were Malum Usman, 16; Bulama Bukar, 14; and Rawa Usman, 11; as well as their alleged sponsor, Babagana Umar, 40.
The state government, alarmed by the increasing number of IDP campfires in the area, promised to apprehend and prosecute those responsible for these crimes.
The state Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof Usman Tar, had, on Sunday, March 31, raised the alarm over the matter in a statement, alleging a grand conspiracy involving some NGOs.
However, ASP Nahum Daso, the spokesman for the state command, did not name any NGO as the sponsor of the act when he paraded the suspects in Maiduguri on Thursday.
“On March 24, 2024, at approximately 10:30 a.m., the Mafa hunters group reported to the Mafa division of the police with three suspects: 16-year-old Malum Usman, 14-year-old Bulama Bukar, and 11-year-old Rawa Usman.
“The suspects were arrested using matches while attempting to set a house on fire within the Mafa IDP camp,” Daso clarified.
It was further revealed that the trio were sponsored by one Babagana Umar a firewood seller at Muna garage area Maiduguri who had contacted them to commit the act for the sum of N10,000.
Umar, the purported sponsor, denied helping the children carry out the act.
“This is a mischief against me. I was told when I was being arrested in the mosque when I was praying. I can’t even begin to imagine. I offered to swear by the Holy Quran to prove my innocence when I was caught because I knew I had never envisioned trying to blow up the Mafa camp, but I was not allowed,” he claimed.
